Expression of basigin in the early phase of acute myocardial ischemia in rats

Basigin may be involved in cardiovascular disease. In our previous study, suppression subtractive hybridization results indicated that basigin may be associated with the early phase of acute myocardial ischemia (AMI) within 1 h. However, little is known regarding the expression of basigin in the early phase of AMI. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the temporal and spatial expression patterns of basigin mRNA and protein levels in AMI in rats. We constructed an AMI model in rats that received left anterior descending coronary artery ligation for 0, 15, 30, 60, 120 or 240 min. Real-time quantitative PCR and in situ hybridization (ISH) were conducted to reveal the basigin mRNA levels in the early ischemic myocardium (EIM) and non-ischemic myocardium (NIM). The expression levels of basigin protein were detected using western blot analysis and immunohistochemistry. The expression levels of basigin mRNA and protein significantly changed in the EIM as early as 30 min from ischemia, and the changes continued to be present throughout the ischemic period (P<0.05). The expression levels of basigin mRNA were significantly reduced, whilst those of the protein underwent a significant similar to 2-fold increase in the EIM. However, there were no significant differences in the basigin mRNA or protein expression levels from 0-240 min in the NIM (P>0.05). We failed to detect a signal for basigin mRNA in the myocardium by ISH. Our findings indicated that basigin may be involved in acute myocardial ischemia following continual ischemia for >30 min.